Marlon
Marlon, founded as the Kingdom of Marlon or the Blue Country, was a state in the Bolganio continent's Evillious region. Over the course of its history, it grew to become one of largest imperial powers in the region and, centuries later, became part of the Union State of Evillious. History Early History Following its foundation, the Kingdom of Marlon grew into a respectable power and was often at odds with the Lioness country controlling the western half of the island, along with barbarians. To strengthen ties with the Beelzenian Empire in an attempt to overcome Lioness, the country married Princess Yufina Marlon to Martius Beelzenia and adopted him into the Marlon Royal Family. Following the sudden death of the reigning monarch during the EC 130s, Martius ascended the throne with Yufina as his queen. In March of EC 136, King Martius and Queen Yufina journeyed to the Beelzenian Empire for her husband's homecoming. Several months later, Princess Maylis Beelzenia requested Count Karchess Crim investigate the inexplicable string of disappearances plaguing Beelzenia's Asmodean region. After Karchess assassinated Duke Sateriasis Venomania in EC 137, the Count and Yufina were hunted down by Marlon. In EC 139, Karchess staged a coup to found the "legitimate" Marlon country with Yufina as the true heir of the royal family. Gaining the support of the surrounding nobles, they successfully deposed King Martius and Karchess and Yufina became the reigning monarchs. Strained Relations In June of EC 311, Carlos Marlon, the third prince of Marlon was engaged to Beelzenia's Banica Conchita, daughter of Duke Muzuri. In February of the following year, Banica's disgusting behavior during a meeting between the two families led to the engagement's cancellation. At some point before the EC 350s, the Kingdom of Marlon was successful in wrestling control over Lioness, gaining supremacy over the entire island. Marlon Imperialism In the years following the Kingdom of Lucifenia's ascension as an imperial power, the Kingdom of Marlon became its ally, receiving several large sums of money as gifts from the Yellow Country. Around EC 490, an engagement was arranged between Kyle and Princess Riliane, set to be married when the Lucifenian princess turned fifteen. In EC 490, the country was thrown into political chaos when the king passed away and his surviving heirs were systematically assassinated. In EC 494, Kyle was crowned king and ascended the throne. In EC 500, Marlon sent aid to help alleviate the Kingdom of Lucifenia's famine in conjunction with the Kingdom of Elphegort. Later that year, King Kyle voided his engagement with Princess Riliane; Marlon publicly avoided taking sides during the succeeding Lucifenia-Elphegort War while secretly funneling support to the Lucifenian Resistance. During the Lucifenian Revolution, the island nation denied Lucifenia's request for reinforcements as the riots got out of control, with King Kyle and a detachment of the Marlon army participating in the conflict as disguised revolutionaries. As a result of the peace talks with the Lucifenian Resistance, the Kingdom of Marlon settled itself into the new Lucifenian government to help guide the rebuilding nation. The following year, King Kyle incorporated Lucifenia as a Marlon principality and declared a Witch Hunt order for resistance leader Germaine Avadonia, and later Elluka Clockworker and Gumillia. Once the King attempted to eradicate remnants of the Resistance, the Marlon army fought skirmishes with the resistance members before finally pushing them back out of Lucifenia in EC 503. Rejecting Marlon's demands, the Beelzenian Empire refused to relinquish the revolutionaries it harbored. During this time, Marlon imposed sanctions against trade with Elphegort, though permitting the Green Country's merchants to trade within Marlon borders. In EC 505, the Kingdom of Marlon invaded Beelzenia; over a month into the campaign, Asmodean invaded the Lucifenia territory and were quickly repelled in the ensuing week. Over a month later, Marlon made peace with Beelzenia. During this time, the Gula plague began affecting the Marlon island populace, particularly in the northwest Blood Pool region. Later that year, Queen Dowager Prim traversed to Castle Hedgehog in the north. Around the same time, the Blood Pool region was ravaged by an army of undead soldiers. With the Marlon army, King Kyle invaded the region and assaulted the castle. As a result, Prim was killed and her murderer, General Ney, was captured. Following the death of Ney by Prim's court mage, Abyss I.R., a national funeral was held for Prim two weeks later. Reformation In EC 510, King Kyle reinstated Lucifenia's independence before abdicating the throne to his brother, Arkatoir. After the Freezis Foundation was established in EC 531, the organization set up headquarters in Bariti. After some negotiation with the foundation, the Evillious nations all agreed to the establishment of the World Police organization in EC 573. Following the discovery of Maistia in EC 592, Marlon established trade with the foreign continent; the country later began colonizing the continent. In EC 597, the town of Lioness was set fire to and mostly burned to the ground, credited to being due to the famous mage Elluka Clockworker. On September 6, EC 609, Marlon issued a joint statement with Elphegort and Lucifenia to limit the abuse of tobacco from the New World; the government faced opposition from the Freezis Foundation and the aristocracy. When Marlon's Maistian colonies rebelled in EC 760, Marlon warred with them until the "United States of Maistia" was recognized as an independent nation in EC 776. The Blue Country then entered civil war between the Marlon Royal Family and the Viwaatsu Family, ending with the Viwaatsu deposing and replacing the Marlons the following year. Over the following decades, Marlon began discussing with other Evillious nationals about creating a unified state to compete with Maistia. Union State of Evillious Following the Aishikeru Treaty, Marlon joined Levianta, Lucifenia and Elphegort as part of the Union State of Evillious in EC 878. After Elphegort invaded Lucifenia in EC 993 and was expelled from the USE, Marlon declared war on the nation. With Divine Levianta's cooperation, Marlon launched a two-pronged siege on Elphegort. In EC 998, the USE army succeeded in liberating Lucifenia. World's End That year, EC 998, Marlon was completely decimated by Punishment. Following the end of the Third Period, the destruction site merged with the Hellish Yard along with the rest of the ground world. Government and Politics Power Structure The Marlon government was ruled by a single absolute monarch who held a majority of the power within the government. Below the monarch were the dukes, lords who managed their individual province. Below the dukes were the counts, aristocrats charged with ruling the monarch's territories in his or her stead. Each position within the government was subject to a hereditary line-of-succession with the firstborn male usually inheriting the position and title; in cases where no legitimate heir existed, the closest female heir was selected instead. Military The Marlon military was both large and well supplied, armed with elitely crafted swords, and had expertly trained soldiers numbering as many as 20,000 strong. The army corp was divided into several branches. One specific branch, the female-only Espionage Task Force, focused on intelligence and espionage and acted largely independently of other military activities for the needs of the crown. Marlon soldiers were also moderately adaptive, able to disguise their forces and successively coordinate ambush tactics to cripple an opposing army. Their uniform consisted of blue armor with military commanders wearing blue coats with black lining; in some cases, they wore plated steel gray cloaks over their uniform. After annexing Lucifenia, several of its commanders continued to wear portions of the fallen kingdom's uniform rather than switching to the standard Marlon military attire. The Marlon military also had a powerful navy and remained unrivaled in its control of the Hark Sea, having as many as 50,000 navymen at one time. Developing powerful warships, the three-masted vessels could carry up to 105 mounted batteries under the command of a navy admiral and were the most advanced naval vessels of their time. The Marlon military also spearheaded the development of gunpowder, creating explosive bombs to cause massive damage within the general area. Around the turn of the sixth century EC, Marlon's military invented the cannon and mounted the new technology on their warships to inflict massive damage upon enemy vessels. The Marlon military's attempts to downscale the technology into hand-held firearms eventually led to the creation of the revolver, revolutionizing conventional armaments. Economy As an island nation, the Marlon economy emphasized its fishing industry. Despite this, it also shared some agricultural elements but otherwise relied on trade with other nations, allowing businesses to thrive. After annexing Lucifenia, the former kingdom's economic resources were garnered as well, though later lost with the state's sovereignty being restored. Despite its wealth, the kingdom had a poor infrastructure, with sloppily made roadwork and dirty buildings. Due to the Freezis Foundation headquarters operating from Marlon, a large number of the nation's populace was employed by the foundation. After the discovery of Maistia, Marlon became a major importer of goods from the continent, especially its tobacco. It later limited its tobacco imports following the death of Marquis Kaspar Blankenheim. The kingdom maintained minted gold coins as their currency to back the nation's economic wealth. The nation later adopted Evillious' regional currency, the Ev. Society and Culture The Marlons were a nationalistic community and enjoyed their independent status from other nations in Evillious. The people of Marlon held a deep hatred for the country of Lioness and the nation was constantly at odds with its neighbor for island supremacy. Their distaste was so strong that many of the nobles preferred to be a vassal to Beelzenia than be taken over by Lioness. For entertainment, the aristocracy primarily enjoyed reading literature or poetry, though some literate commoners also enjoyed the pastime. Regardless, both social classes enjoyed opera and attended the events. Also, a common trait found in Marlons was a strong addiction for collecting things, though what they collected varied widely per individual. After the Lioness Burning Incident, the legendary mage "Elluka Clockworker" became taboo among the population, with any who used the name being scorned and despised for her alleged arson. Despite being referred to as the "Blue Country", Marlons had no common traits or characteristics of "blue" distinguishing them from other ethnicities. Instead, its name was derived from the water surrounding them as an island nation. However, within the Marlon Royal Family, its male members sharing a lineage with Karchess Crim often had blue hair, in contrast with the common black or brown hair found among Marlons. Due to being surrounded by water, Marlon society held a stronger emphasis on its coastal surroundings. In one instance, fishermen would often net a rare breed of octopi found in their waters but was universally considered inedible due to its odd appearance. Generally, their cooking was not very good. As part of courtship among the nobility, it was common for the upper class men to give a shell pendant to the woman they wished to marry. Levin became the primary religion practiced in the Kingdom of Marlon. Although initially the Held sect was popular among the citizenry and nobles, the Levia sect became widespread during a period of trade between the kingdom and Divine Levianta. Churches dedicated to the Held sect were, as a result, removed, and the Levia religion was eventually practiced by many of Marlon's political officials. Because of its practices in demon worship, the Behemo sect wasn't tolerated within the country and no communities for the faith were accepted, though seemingly not openly persecuted. Geography and Climate Marlon is located on the island off the west coast of the Evillious region, located directly west of Lucifenia. Originally, the nation only controlled the eastern half of Marlon Island but eventually gained hegemony over the half controlled by the Lioness country. During its height, the Kingdom of Marlon controlled the entire territory of Lucifenia, granting itself a foothold across the center of the main continent. Due to its unique location, Marlon has a natural barrier protecting its borders, as well as a mountain range along its east coast. Its three major rivers stretched from its western shores inland and produced a viable areas for settlement and had a diverse enough land for growing food and maintaining sizeable forests. Marlon has a cool climate and receives a regular amount of rainfall. Locations Bariti The capital city of Marlon in the south. The Methis River divides the town. Its most important locations included the Marlon Castle, located in the western half of the city, and the Freezis Mansion located in the northern area. The Column Forest lies directly north of the city. Marlon Castle The residence of the Marlon Royal Family in Bariti, located along the western bank of the Methis River. The royal palace functioned as the center of political power in the Kingdom of Marlon and a critical defensive point against the country of Lioness for many centuries. It was divided into three sections; the Left Chapel, Middle Tower, and Right Palace. Column Forest A forest in southern Marlon, directly north of Bariti. Bears are among the wildlife living in the forest. Many Marlon nobles and the royal family used the forest as a hunting ground. It is one-third the size of the Millennium Tree Forest. Methis River The southernmost river in Marlon, cutting directly through Bariti. The river let out at the western bank of Marlon Island and marked the divide between the capital city's northern and southern districts. Lioness A town on the western side of the Marlon island, regarded as the "town of roses". It was a part of the country of Lioness before being taken over by the Kingdom of Marlon. The city planted beautiful roses and was famous for its rose garden at Lioness Castle and was the home for the Lioness royal family before being taken over by the Marlon Royal Family. It is adjacent to the central river on the Marlon island. Jamet Mountains The mountain range along the eastern coast of Marlon. The port town of Jamet lies directly south of them. Jamet A south-eastern port town. The port was the main transit to and from the Evillious mainland and closest harbor to the capital. When traveling to the old Beelzenian capital of Rukolbeni, the boat ride from Jamet would take a week. The Jamet Mountains lie directly north of the town. Blood Pool The northern region of Marlon. The area was dotted with small springs and pools across the landscape, with a high concentration of them lying near the end of the northern-most river on the Marlon island. Its most important location was Castle Hedgehog. Castle Hedgehog A castle located in the Blood Pool region, also known as "Castle of Hedeghog". It was part of the country of Lioness before being taken over by the Kingdom of Marlon. The castle maintained a clock tower dubbed "Heartbeat Clocktower", with a room at the top of its spire; it also had a dungeon. Just below it is the northern-most river on the Marlon Island, near its mouth. It was originally the residence of a lord in Lioness but later became unused by the Marlon Royal Family due to the noise the tower emitted, although it often became a resting place for Queen Dowager Prim. In EC 505, it became the battleground of the Queen's battle with her son, King Kyle. Lucifenia The eastern territory of the Kingdom of Marlon on the Bolganio mainland. It acted as a foothold to conquer the rest of Evillious. Less than a decade after it was incorporated as part of Marlon, the former country's sovereignty was restored to its people by King Kyle.